Neville museum starts gallery renovation on second floor; expected to finish June 2020

Stompy the Mastodon exhibit in the Neville Public Museum(Photo: Benita Mathew/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

GREEN BAY - Your favorite exhibits at the Neville Public Museum are getting an upgrade, but don't worry — Stompy the mastodon is staying put.

Old Crock, one of the country's oldest fire pumps, was the last artifact in the gallery that was covered Tuesday to officially start demolition for the museum's first major remodel in 36 years.

Exhibits in the gallery are getting a cleaning, bilingual guides will be available, and some artifacts will be replaced to represent the more culturally diverse local community.

The gallery closed to the public in May to start moving artifacts into temporary storage and is expected to reopen in June 2020. The public will still be able to go through the rest of the museum while the second-floor gallery is being remodeled.

"We want this space to be representative of the community we serve," said Beth Kowalski-Lemke, the museum director. "Thirty-six years ago our community was just different. It changes and we want to be able to change and reflect the time moving forward."